The Game
by BobR
Summary: In which Washu and a certain Mazoku go at it.
1. It Begins

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 1

It Begins

*****

Washu held the remote control of her Reality Hopper Mk. III and chuckled.  With the new modifications she just finished it should be possible to create a portal just about anywhere within 500 miles.  Of course it wouldn't be a very big one, but big enough for her purposes.  And it was portable!  And didn't need vacuum at the other end any more!  What a wonderful machine, she really was the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe.  She could use her big machine and the little one together to grab things from any Reality now.  Too bad she hadn't had the small model on the last adventure, it would have solved a few problems.  Oh well, couldn't be helped, but the little one was ready a last.  Now if Urd would just come through with her part of the bargain…

*****

Xellos was calmly standing in the woods, minding his own business (at least as far as he was concerned).  And today his business concerned Lina Inverse and her group of misfits (as it usually had lately).  There was something about the red headed sorceress that intrigued him.  It wasn't the fact that she was now bonded with the Lord of Nightmares; no, his interest in her had started long before that.  Maybe because he was lonely.  There weren't many in this reality that could match him for power.  Those that were more powerful always wanted to control him, and those that were less were afraid of him.  He didn't know why, all that business with the dragons had happened thousands of years ago…  But Lina and her crew were different.  They weren't awed by his power, even after they realized who he was; and they weren't always trying to make him do things he didn't want to either.  In fact, they were the closest he'd ever come to having real friends.  Ah, perhaps that was why he stayed with them then.  He'd have to give it some thought someday.

Gourry Gabriev was leading the small group through the forest when he rounded a turn in the path and almost bumped into the Mazoku.  Lina, who had been arguing with Amelia and Zelgadis about lunch, did run into Gourry.  All four of them ended up in a tumbled heap with Xellos standing over them chuckling.

"Ah, Lina.  How nice to see you all again so soon," said the demon.  "Would you mind if I joined you for a while?"

Lina, Zel and Amelia stood up and dusted themselves off.  Gourry continued to lie on the ground, his eyes spinning in circles.

"Yes, we d… Ow!" began Zelgadis.  Lina kicked him before he could finish.

"Of course not.  Just stay out of trouble," said Lina, giving Zelgadis a dirty look.

"Always," said Xellos, with a smile.

Zel muttered something under his breath that no one but Amelia heard.  She blushed furiously and looked at her feet.

*****

Urd walked out of the house in a good mood.  Today was the day she'd help Washu get back at Xellos for that trick he'd pulled a while back.  It also gave her the chance to get one up on Mara.  She felt Mara's presence in the tree outside the temple.  Laughing to herself she opened the gate and stepped outside.  She walked over to the tree and looked up.  Mara's form was barely visible through the branches, near the top of the tree.  She chuckled again as she remembered the day Ryoko found Mara in the same place and the havoc the two had caused with their "battle" above the city.  Even after all these months people were still talking about the fight between the two "UFO's".  And the sight of two beautiful, nearly naked women floating to earth hadn't gone as unnoticed as they originally thought either.  Someone had actually taken long-range photos of the two scorched girls and they'd been published in a local paper, much to Mara's annoyance.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Urd dropped a small electronic device at the base of the tree.  Another quick check and…

"Hey Mara!  Come down here a minute, I want to talk to you," the goddess called to the demon.

Mara gently floated down from the tree.  Landing a few feet from Urd, the beautiful demoness glared at her sometimes friend.  "Yeah, wadda you want?  I've got important things to do you know," she sneered.

"Oh, nothing much.  I just wanted to see if you needed anything while you were perched up there all day," Urd snickered.  Behind her back she pushed the button on another of Washu's devices.

Back in Washu's lab a small red light began blinking.  With a smile the little red head turned a dial and flipped a switch.  _Let the fun begin, _ she thought.

Meanwhile under the tree, Mara was still arguing with Urd when a portal suddenly opened beneath her. With a startled look on her face the demon suddenly disappeared.  Urd started laughing, but stopped when she noticed that the portal was still growing.  She suddenly remembered that Washu had warned her not to be standing too close to the target when the portal formed.  She began to levitate; too late, she was caught as well.  The portal closed with a sudden snap and there was no one left under the tree.

Washu noticed a power surge as the portal formed, then dissipated.  Her instruments showed that two beings had been transferred.  "Dammit!" she said to the empty lab, "I warned her not to get too close.  I knew I should've asked Bell or Skuld to do the dirty work.  Oh well, this may work out after all, that idiot Xellos will definitely have his hands full with those two."

*****

Xellos and Lina were now leading the group toward the next town.  The demon and sorceress were idly chatting about their last adventure together and what Filia was up to.  Neither had heard from the dragon priestess in a while.  Lina suspected Xellos had a crush on the dragoness, and that the feeling might be mutual.  She was urging him to try to get in contact with her.  

Cresting a small hill they came upon the form of a young woman lying on her back in the path.  The group gathered around her.  She was blonde and seemed to be well formed, but not over large; Lina looked down at her own chest, she could empathize with her.  She was dressed in some sort of leather outfit that barely covered her assets.  Xellos though she looked familiar somehow.  His smile widened as he remembered whom this was.

_Well, well.  Long time, no see, _ he thought.  _I wonder how she got here? _

Mara slowly regained her senses.  She remembered falling into a black opening then crashing through some trees and hitting the ground headfirst.  She became aware of shadows around her.  She sat up, rubbing the top of her head. "Ooh, my head."  Her eyes focused on the person standing in front of her.  "Master Xellos!  How did you…"  She looked around.  "How did I get here?  Wait, I remember!  Urd!"

"Hey!" came a weak shout from over their heads.  "I'm here too so don't go blaming it on me!"

Xellos and the rest looked up into a tree to see Urd hanging upside down, entangled in the massed branches.

"Xellos, who are these people?  They seem to know you…" said Lina out of the side of her mouth.

The demon gave her one of his trademark smiles.  "Ah.  That woman up the tree is Urd, a pain in the behind if you know what I mean.  And this one is the demoness Mara…"

"Demon!" Lina interrupted, giving Mara a closer look, noticing Mara's fangs for the first time.  "We know how to handle demons around here, right Amelia?"

"Right!" responded the princess, assuming one of her poses.  "In the name of Justice I command you to surrender yourself.  Evil shall not triumph!"

"What's she talking about?" Mara asked Xellos.  Xellos just smiled and stepped back.

"Flare Arrow!" cried Amelia as she sent one flying toward Mara.

"Hey!  Wait a minute," said Mara, batting the spell aside with her palm.

"Fireball!" yelled Lina, launching one of her devastating attacks.

Mara waved her hand, dismissing the flame.  "Really.  Even Belldandy can do better than that.  Try again."

Lina motioned everyone back, "Explosion Array!"  The ground beneath Mara exploded into the air sending the demoness several hundred feet high.  She gently floated back down to earth.

"Better, but not good enough.  It's my turn," Mara declared.

Xellos stepped between the two.  "I think not.  If you make her mad she really _can_ hurt you Mara.  I let her try some of her weaker magic to prove that you weren't an ordinary, everyday monster like they normally encounter.  But I will not allow you to harm Lina or any of this group.  Understood former apprentice?"

"Yes master.  I don't really understand, but I'll obey.  For now."  The demon gave Lina a look that would have killed any lesser being.

The Mazoku turned to Lina, "And you my dear, Mara's magic is very powerful and different from what you're used to.  A Dragon Slave would just make her upset and she may even be able to nullify your Ragna Blade."

Lina nodded to the demoness.  "A truce then.  I don't trust Xellos completely, but he's never been wrong before.  I don't have to like you though."  

Her stomach rumbled at the same time as Gourry's.  "Lunchtime!" they said in unison.  Mara looked at them in wonder.

Xellos saw the look and laughed, "And another thing Mara, don't ever come between those two and food if you value your existence.  Now, I believe there's a town with an excellent inn about half an hour down this road.  I'll treat this time.  Sort of a 'let's all get acquainted' lunch, ok?"

Gourry's eyes lit up and Lina licked her lips.  Both nodded eagerly, even Amelia bobbed her head a few times; Zel just shook his head in wonder.

A loud rustling was heard from high in the tree.  "Hey you stupid demon!  What about me?  Get me down from here!"

Xellos opened his eyes fully, showing their malevolent gleam.  He looked up at the dusky goddess.  "Why Urd, as a goddess you should be able to get yourself down from a little tree.  Whatever do you need _our_ help for?"

"She's a goddess?" quipped Amelia.

"Yes indeed," the Mazoku replied, squinting his eyes again.  "A Goddess Second Class.  Limited.  But I believe her license was suspended a while back.  Has it been reinstated yet Urd dear?" he called up to the struggling goddess.

Urd growled at Xellos as Amelia deftly climbed the tree to untangle her from the branches.

"Master Xellos," Mara purred.  "Instead of lunch, could you send us back please?  Or at least me; you can keep her here for a while."  She indicated Urd, still struggling against the branches as Amelia tried to help.

"Can't you do it yourself Mara?  You're a Demon First Class, it should be child's play."

"It would be, if I knew where I was.  But because I didn't cast the spell to send us here, my return spells won't work."

Xellos smiled benignly.  "In that case, I think you two should remain until I find out how you got here."

Urd, now free of the branches due to some effort by the princess, floated gently down to land next to Mara.  "It's that damn Washu.  She was only supposed to send Mara, but I got sucked up too.  Now you know, so send us home."

"Washu?  Washu's behind this?  Heh.  I know just how to handle her…"  Xellos turned to Amelia with a smile, "My dear princess, I need a big favor from you…"  He waved his hand and Amelia faded from view with a dark flicker.

"Where did you send her?  Tell me now!" yelled Zel as he pulled his sword from its sheath.

"Oh, don't worry Zelgadis, she'll be fine.  Washu won't hurt her; it's not in her nature to injure an innocent.  Now Ryoko or Ayeka on the other hand…  But I'm sure that won't be a problem."

Mara fell to the ground laughing.  "Oh that's great!  You sent her to Washu?  You're good; you're real good!  That's just plain evil!"  

Even Urd was grinning now.  "I just wish I could be there to see it.  Hint, hint…" she nudged the Mazoku with her elbow.

"Now, now Urd.  I think we'll just see how this plays out before I do anything else," Xellos responded.  _Oh Lady Washu.  You don't know what you've gotten yourself into this time.  Heh, heh. _

Gourry, Lina and Zelgadis looked at each other with the same thought running through their heads: "Who's Washu?"  Well maybe not Gourry…

*****

Author's Notes

Er…  What can I say?  This story's probably going to be about Washu and Xellos tossing characters around to make each other's lives miserable as they have to deal with them.  Should I go on or not?  Your opinions mean a lot to me so please let me know what you think.  Oh, and this is just the opening chapter.  The rest of the Tenchi crew will become much more involved as it progresses, along with a few surprise guest appearances.

BobR

1/11/2002


	2. I'll See Your Princess and Raise You Two...

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 2

I'll See Your Princess and Raise You Two Magical Girls

*****

Washu walked out of her lab chuckling to herself.  It wasn't everyday you pulled a fast one on one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse and she certainly felt she had done just that.  Too bad about Urd though.  Well, she _had_ warned her about standing too close to Mara when the portal opened.  She didn't think Xellos would keep her long; about long enough to get in a few digs is all.  But Urd and Mara at the same time, Xellos would certainly have his hands full; it might even work out better this way and the platinum haired goddess couldn't blame anyone but herself for her predicament.

Ayeka and Ryoko were sitting on the couch together watching soap operas when Washu stepped out of her lab.  Washu smiled when she saw that Ryoko had her arm stretched across the back of the couch and was idly playing with Ayeka's hair.

Ryoko was too caught up in the show to notice, but the princess heard the closet door close.  Ayeka, who had been enjoying the pirate's attention, suddenly shooed her hand away.  "Miss Washu, won't you join us?" the princess asked politely, turning her head to look at the scientist.  "The next episode of 'All My Planets' is about to start."  

"You know Ayeka, it wouldn't be improper for you to call me 'Mom' now either.  I've almost got Tenchi to that point as well," said Washu, taking a seat at the far end of the sofa.

"At least she doesn't insist on 'Little Washu' anymore," muttered Ryoko, not taking her eyes off the television.  "What are _you_ so happy about anyway?"  Her hand crept slowly back toward Ayeka's hair.

Washu just smiled sweetly at her daughter, knowing that by not replying she'd increase Ryoko's curiosity level.  She was dying to tell someone about what was going on, because a joke not shared isn't much of a joke at all, but she loved playing with Ryoko's mind too.  She snapped her fingers and a bowl of buttered popcorn appeared.  "Snacks anyone?"

*****

Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune had no idea where she was.  Wherever it was it was dim and strange.  The different sounds she was hearing didn't register with her at all, and all the flashing lights…  It was totally beyond her comprehension.  Not to say that she was scared; after all, a Champion of Justice wasn't supposed to fear evil, as Justice always prevails…  And this place didn't have an evil feeling about it anyway, just strange.  

The girl stepped over to a console where a button was pulsing with a bright red light.  She had no idea what it did, but it seemed to say "PUSH ME" in her mind.  She slowly and tentatively reached out her finger; closing her eyes and turning her head away she pushed it.

CLICK.

Nothing appeared to happen.  With a relieved sigh she opened her eyes.  That was a mistake.  What she'd found was the light switch and what was revealed was an area that seemed to be a control room of some sort.  It had a comfortable looking chair surrounded by a bank of controls and the rest of the room was filled with unfamiliar machinery.  She looked around with wide eyes.

Yukinojo's robotic sensors detected the presence of someone in his control cabin.  In fact, they had just activated the lighting.  It might be Mihoshi, but they weren't due for patrol duty for two more days.  He activated his Pilot Interface Module to see what was going on.

Amelia spun around as a whirring sound came from behind her.  Something was descending from the ceiling.  Something with two huge glowing eyes.  She leapt to the back of the convenient chair and prepared to do battle with this demon.  She raised her arm and opened her mouth to begin her Justice speech.

"Can I help you?"  The pleasant voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

It startled her.  In fact it stopped her dead, she didn't even get one word out.  Her arm slowly fell to her side.  "What?"

"I asked if I might be of assistance.  Are you a friend of Mihoshi's?  Or perhaps Lady Washu or Skuld?" asked the computer, trying to reason out how this young girl got on board when his sensors showed he was still in Washu's supposedly secure subspace hanger.

Amelia, sensing that she was in no danger, hopped down from her perch.  "Who are you?  Where are you?  Where am I?" she asked.

"I am the Galaxy Police Patrol Cruiser Yukinojo.  You are currently in my shuttle's command cabin.  Who are _you_?" replied the ship.

"I am Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune and I don't know how I got here.  The name Washu sounds familiar though, I've heard it somewhere before and recently too."

Yukinojo searched his databanks for any reference to a Princess Amelia.  Although he found several, none were currently in power, or even alive for that matter.  "I need more information.  What is the last thing you remember before you appeared here?"

"Well, I remember walking through the forest with my friends when we came across a demon.  Then I had to climb a tree to rescue a goddess and then I was here."

"Did this goddess have a name?"

"Urd.  I think her name was Urd.  And the demon's name was Mara.  If that helps any."

"Ah.  That explains quite a bit then.  I shall contact Lady Washu for further instructions.  Please have a seat but don't touch anything else.  An accidental weapons discharge would be very difficult to explain.  Believe me, I've had to do it before…"  Yukinojo began humming to himself as he activated his communications circuits.  In Washu's lab a buzzer began to sound.

*****

"And you two can just stay that way until Tenchi gets home," a disheveled Big Washu told her daughter and daughter-in-law.  "Next time you start something like that, take it outside or to your room where it belongs.  You made me miss the best part of the show."

Ryoko and Ayeka were gagged and duct-taped together.  Every time Ayeka had slapped Ryoko's hand away it had crept back.  Eventually the whole scene had devolved into a slapping and shouting match that if it had happened at any other time would have been funny.  But because it happened in the middle of her soap, Washu was just plain annoyed.  The couple glared at the scientist who switched back to her child form and turned her attention back to the television.  Washu smiled inwardly _At least they aren't blowing up the house anymore. _

When the show finally ended Washu clicked off the television and headed back to her lab, leaving the bound and struggling pair on the couch giving each other plaintive looks.  The two cabbits hopped in from outside and jumped up on the table.  If they could've laughed at their master's predicament they would have.

_Ryo-ohki, go get Sasami, _ beamed Ryoko.

_Uh, uh, _ came the reply.  _I am _not_ getting involved in this. _

_Ay-ohki? _ asked Ayeka mentally.

The male cabbit shook his head.  _What she said, _ he nodded towards his mate.  They bounded down off the table together and went into the kitchen looking for a snack.

_We _did_ get a bit carried away, didn't we Princess? _ Ryoko sent to Ayeka through the link.

Ayeka just nodded her head.

*****

The first thing Washu noticed when she reentered her lab was the signal from Mihoshi's ship.  Quickly crossing to the communications panel she keyed a channel open.  "Yes Yukinojo, what is it?"

There was a hiss of static for a few seconds, then the ship responded, "It's a single officer Galaxy Police Patrol Cruiser, but that's not important right now.  Lady Washu, I seem to have an unannounced visitor." 

"I'm _really_ gonna have to take a look at your programming, aren't I?  Give me a visual please."

The ship activated its internal monitoring system and a view of the control cabin appeared on Washu's monitor.  The scientist saw a young, black haired girl sitting in Mihoshi's command chair.  She was looking around with wide eyes, but didn't seem to be afraid of where she was. "She says that she knows Lady Urd but doesn't seem to know anyone else and she doesn't exist in my databanks," Yukinojo stated.

Washu pondered for a moment, examining the image on the screen.  "Not in your databanks huh?  Well _mine_ are a bit more extensive.  Did she mention her name?"

"Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune," the ship responded.

"Just a sec…"  Washu keyed in the search.  "Nope, lot's of Princess Amelia's, but none that match her description."

"The same as my data indicated," huffed Yukinojo.

"Ok, open a circuit and let me talk to her," the scientist commanded.  She muttered something about uppity computers.

"_Channel_ open Lady Washu."

Washu banged on the console.  "Yukinojo, can the 'Lady' part, ok?  Ahem.  Princess Amelia, my name is Washu and Yukinojo tells me that you know Urd.  Is this true?"

A screen popped open in front of Amelia, startling her.  Her eyes focused on an image of a red headed girl who appeared to be several years younger than she was.  "Um, not really.  I just met her the one time.  Xellos wouldn't get her out of the tree so I had to."

"Xellos?  Just a minute, I'm coming to you so don't be afraid."  Washu snapped her fingers and teleported herself onto Yukinojo's command deck.  "Xellos you say?  I think I understand now.  Why don't you come with me and we'll find a place that's more comfortable to talk in."

Amelia wasn't sure about this person.  Her magic allowed her to sense an awesome power contained within the small body, but once again there was nothing evil there.  She stood up.  "If you say so Lady Washu," she said hesitantly.

Washu rolled her eyes towards the ceiling.  "Please don't call me that."

"But Yukinojo and Xellos…" the princess started to explain.

"I've already talked to Yukinojo about it," Washu glared at the computer's PIM.  "And I'm happy that Xellos has some respect for his betters, but call me 'Little Washu' or just 'Washu' all right?  Whatever else I am, I'm certainly no lady.  Just ask any of my family."  Washu chuckled as she held out her hand to the princess and teleported them back to the lab.  "Let's go into the house.  You look hungry, I'll have Sasami make us something to eat."

Amelia nodded.  "We were just about to stop for lunch when I wound up here.  Xellos was going to treat."

"Huh.  There may be hope for him yet."  Washu opened the portal and led the princess through.  Sasami was just finishing unwrapping Ryoko and Ayeka while the cabbits watched, contentedly munching on carrots.  Ryoko turned at the sound of the closet door.

"Washu!  I…" She saw Amelia peering over Washu's shoulder.  "Who are you?"

Washu made the introductions, "Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, this is Princess Amelia.  She's visiting from, um, somewhere else shall we say.  Amelia, this is my daughter Ryoko, daughter-in-law Princess Ayeka of Jurai and her sister, Princess Sasami.  Wow, that's a lot of princesses to keep track of, isn't it?  Why don't we just drop the princess part, it could get a little awkward what with protocol and all."

*****

"So you and this Xellos guy are into it with each other huh?  Why?" asked Ryoko, taking another sip of her tea.

They were all seated in the Masaki living room listening to Amelia explain how she'd arrived.  Washu had pointedly taken a seat between her daughter and Ayeka on the couch while Sasami and Amelia were seated on the floor.  The two cabbits watched the proceedings with interest.

"Do you remember Minagi?" Washu asked.

Ryoko, Ayeka and Sasami nodded, Amelia just had a blank look on her face.

Washu continued, "Xellos was the one that sent her to us.  That's when this all started.  He loves his little tricks."

Ayeka poured herself another cup of tea.  "And you just can't stand it when someone puts one over on you, so you had to get back at him.  But why Urd?"

Washu held out her cup so that Ayeka could refill it also.  "Thank you.  Urd wasn't supposed to go, just Mara.  But she obviously couldn't follow my instructions so she got caught too."  She picked up one of the teacakes that Sasami had brought out and took a bite.

Amelia looked around at everyone then snatched a cake herself.  She wasn't quite comfortable around these strangers yet, but they obviously didn't mean her any harm.  And their little animals were cute too.  She patted Ryo-ohki on the head while listening to the discussion.

"Well what are we going to do?" Ayeka asked.  "We can't just leave them there and Amelia probably wants to go home too."

"Oh, he won't hurt them, just like he knows I won't hurt anyone he sends here," Washu said between bites of cake.  She finished and brushed the crumbs off her shirt.

Ayeka gave her a wide-eyed look.  "But Miss Washu, aren't you more powerful than he is?  I mean you're a goddess and all…"

_Goddess? _ Amelia thought.  _That little girl's a goddess?  Well, I guess it's possible; Hellmaster appeared as a young boy after all.  But that would make Ryoko… _

The ex-pirate caught the look of realization on the girl's face and smiled at her.

Washu was glaring at Ayeka.  "What have I told you about calling me 'Miss'?  And yes, I most certainly am more powerful, _if_ I unlock the gems again.  But I won't need to do that, it's all a big game to him you see.  Once he determines that one of us has won, it'll all go back to normal.  So we just play it out."

"And hope you don't lose," commented Ryoko, licking powdered sugar off her fingers.

Washu grabbed another cake.  "It doesn't matter.  The only thing I can't do now is fold.  That would appear as a weakness to him and he'd try to take advantage of it.  Then someone _would_ get hurt, most likely him and a few innocents."  She stared out the window at the lake for a moment, then shoved the remainder of the cake into her mouth.  "What he can't seem to grasp is that the people he's sending to me don't bother me at all.  In fact I've rather enjoyed the ones he's sent so far, Minagi and Amelia here."

"Then what are we going to do?" the ex-pirate asked.

Washu chuckled as she though of something.  "I have an idea, but I'm going to need your help Ryoko.  You're the only one of us that _she_ might fully trust."

"Who's _she_?  Who trusts me?" Ryoko wondered out loud.

"I do, but that's irrelevant right now," snickered Ayeka.

The pirate turned to her friend, "Gee, thanks."  She reached across Washu's head to poke at her co-wife.

"Why don't we all go back to the lab?  This should be good," suggested the red headed scientist, jabbing Ryoko with her elbow and giving her a "Stop That Right Now Or Else" look.  A roll of duct-tape had magically appeared in her hand.

*****

Kawai Sasami and Amano Misao were walking to school like they did every school day.  They were the best of friends and shared practically everything.  Including a big secret.  Today was no different from any other day; Sasami's dad had dropped them off at the corner nearest the school and went on to work and the two walked up the path talking about something they had both watched on television the night before.

"Psst.  Sasami.  Hey, Sasami, over here!" a vaguely familiar voice came out of a shadowed alleyway.

Sasami glanced in that direction and saw a familiar spiky haired figure.  She grabbed Misao's hand and headed over.

"Oryo!" Sasami exclaimed.  "What are you doing here?  Did Tsunami send you?"

Ryo-ohki poked his head out of Sasami's backpack.  "Sasami, that's _not_ Oryo!  Be careful," he whispered in her ear.

Similarly, Rumiya stuck his face out of Misao's pack, "Yeah, and whoever it is isn't from my sister either."

Both girls stopped in their tracks and looked at each other.  "Who are you?" Sasami asked the figure.

The woman floated out into the sunlight.  She looked just like Oryo except for the clothes.  She had on a blue and yellow dress that appeared to have a tail.  It flicked back and forth slowly and if she'd been a cat it would have indicated contentment with the world.  She bowed politely to the two girls.  "My name is Masaki Ryoko and I've come to ask you a favor."

Sasami and Misao listened closely as this strange but oddly familiar person explained what she wanted.  When she was done Sasami asked Ryo-ohki for his opinion.

"Well, I'm not so sure it's a good idea myself.  Let me ask Queen Tsunami though."  The cabbit closed his eyes and concentrated for a second.  He smiled and opened his eyes.  "She thinks it's a great idea.  She's heard about this Xellos person and wants in on this too."

Misao spoke up from where she'd been quietly listening.  "If Sasami goes, so do I."

"Misao!" from both Sasami and Rumiya.

Misao smiled at her friend and bopped the bird lightly on the head.  "No, it makes sense.  Sammy and Misa are a team now.  If she goes, I go."

Rumiya sighed in resignation.  "I suppose so.  That means I have to go too of course.  If it's not my sister getting me in trouble, it's Misa."  He sighed again.

Ryoko grinned and pulled out some sort of communications device.  "I've always want to do this," she told the two girls as she flipped it open.  "Ryoko to Washu.  Three to beam up."

"_Three_, wadda ya mean _three_?" came a tinny reply from the device.

"Listen Mom, do you wanna do this or not?  Just open the damn hole," Ryoko growled into the device, showing her fangs.  She muttered something about goddesses and what they could do with their duct-tape then smiled sweetly at the girls.

A shimmering black hole opened up between Ryoko and the two girls.  "If you would follow me please, ladies?"  Ryoko stepped over the hole and disappeared.  Sasami and Misao looked at each other and shrugged.  Holding hands, they both stepped forward into the unknown.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

Well, this was originally going to be another long, epic-style story but obviously it isn't going over well.  However I made a promise to everyone a while ago to finish everything I started, so I will finish it out but it may not be as long as I originally planned.  

The Pretty Sammy here is the one from Magical Project S (Pretty Sammy TV) not the OAVs, thus Tenchi is not her brother and Ryoko and Ayeka don't exist as themselves.  Pixy Misa's background is the same in both series.  And for those of you that are unaware, Ryo-ohki is a boy in both Pretty Sammy series.

Review Responses

Alighthawk – Actually I see it more as a game of poker, the betting could go on for a long time before someone calls.  But I like the chess simile better, if I'd have thought of it before I started I probably would've used it.

BobR

1/15/2002


	3. Meanwhile, Back in the Woods...

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Back in the Woods…

*****

The lab was dark and quiet as Ryoko and the two girls materialized.  Ryoko suspected that Washu was going to make one of her grand entrances and decided that she needed to bring the little scientist back to reality.  Preferably this one.

"Yo, Washu!" she called.  "I know you're in here somewhere.  I can smell you."

The lights suddenly popped on and Washu stepped out from behind a large piece of machinery.

"Smell me?" she raised her arms and sniffed.  "No you can't.  Your nose isn't that good; I should know, I designed it.  And besides, I just took a bath a little while ago."  

"Professor Washu!" exclaimed Sasami.  "What are you doing here?"

Washu looked at Ryoko.  "I thought you explained all this to them."

Ryoko shrugged, "Well, I would have, but you said I had to hurry.  So I left out a few little details, sue me."

Washu turned back to the two girls.  "Well it's true that I am Washu, but I'm not the same Washu that you know; although we probably have a lot in common.  You must be Kawai Sasami.  And you are…?" she prompted Misao.

"Amano Misao," the girl replied shyly.

"She's Pixy Misa," piped in Sasami.  "She wanted to come too."

"Ah.  But I thought Pixy Misa was your archrival.  Why would you want her here?"

"Well, she was for a long time," Sasami explained to the scientist.  "Now we're partners kinda.  We're still rivals though, but we don't fight each other any more.  She helped me save the Earth from Romio.  So we're partners _and_ rivals I guess.  Sorta like our favorite comic characters from Dragon Magazine, Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent."

"I see," said Washu with a blank look on her face, not really understanding at all.  "Funny you should mention Lina Inverse…" 

The red head turned and gestured behind her.  "Come on out, Ryoko's spoiled our fun."

Princesses Sasami, Ayeka and Amelia stepped out from behind a different piece of equipment.  Ryo-ohki was in her usual place on the little princess's head while Ay-ohki was perched on his master's shoulder.

Sasami and Misao both saw Ayeka at the same time.  "Romio!" they exclaimed in unison, taking a step back.  

Ryo-ohki and Rumiya both stuck their heads out at the same time.  "What?" they both yelled.

Princess Sasami's eyes lit up. "Oh, how cute.  Your Ryo-ohki can talk.  Ours can only talk to Ryoko or Washu and sometimes Tenchi."

"But that's Romio," said Misao pointing a finger at Ayeka.  "She's the evil one that tried to destroy Juraihelm and Earth."

Ayeka looked around quickly to see if maybe Misao was pointing out someone else.  No one was evident.

Princess Sasami spoke up "No silly.  That's Ayeka; she's my sister.  She may be a bit demonic, but she's not evil."

Ayeka punched her sister on the shoulder and hissed, "Watch what you're telling people Sasami.  They didn't need to know that."

Ryo-ohki hopped down from the princess's head and over to the other Sasami.  She began to sniff around her feet.  Satisfied that this really was another Sasami, she looked up and miya'd loudly. Ay-ohki joined his mate on the floor as the second Ryo-ohki also jumped down from his Sasami.  Rumiya fluttered out onto Misao's shoulder to watch.  The two brown cabbits tentatively examined each other.  One of them looked up at Washu.

"You say he can't speak?  Does he use telepathy or something?" he asked.

Washu crouched down to answer the cabbit.  "In this form, pretty much, yes.  But our Ryo-ohki's a she, not a he.  As far as I know Pretty Sammy's, that's you son, is the only male Ryo-ohki in any of the Realities."

"I'm a 'she' here?  That's disgusting."  Ryo-ohki made a sour face.

The scientist laughed, "Actually you're a 'she' pretty much everywhere except in two Realities.  Get used to it cabbit boy.  Now, let's all go into the house and I'll explain what's going on here."

As they walked toward the portal Amelia pulled Washu aside.  Something the new Sasami had said was bothering her.

"Little Washu, did Sasami say that she's heard of Lina and Naga the Serpent?" the princess asked.

Washu gave her a strange look.  "Well, yeah.  But to her they're just characters in a comic book."

"In this 'comic book' does Naga follow Lina around?" Amelia wondered.

"I don't know.  I suppose she could from the way Sasami said it, why?  Do you know this Naga person?"

"No, not really.  I've heard of her though.  I just didn't know that Lina knew her."  Amelia shivered as she remembered something else that was rumored about Naga the White Serpent, but she kept those thoughts to herself.

*****

In a far distant Reality, a _very_ well developed woman, scantily dressed in a black leather outfit was making camp for the night along a forest trail.  A cold wind suddenly blew through the trees.  She sneezed violently.  "Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho" the sound of raucous laughter rang out through the silent woods.

*****

The two Sasami's stared at each other across the room as did the two Ryo-ohki's.  One of the cabbits kept muttering, "I'm a girl, I can't believe it, I'm a girl…" while the other was purring loudly and leaning against Ay-ohki.

Misao kept looking back and forth between the two Sasami's, unable to believe her eyes

Finally one Sasami couldn't hold it in any more.  "Are you really an alien?  Ryoko said you were all aliens."  Sasami Kawai asked her counterpart.

"Well, at least she got part of it right," Washu muttered, glancing at her daughter.

"Hey!" said Ryoko to her mother in a low voice.

"Tee hee," Princess Sasami giggled.  "That's the same thing Tenchi asked me the first time we met.  Yep, I am.  Are you really a Magical Girl?"

The other Sasami nodded her head, "Uh huh.  I'm Pretty Sammy."

"How strange, Mihoshi told us a story about Pretty Sammy once…"

"And then I told you it wasn't real, didn't I?" Washu said.  "I guess Mihoshi must have inherited something from me after all if she can sometimes divine what's happening in other realities.  Anyway, the Reality Hopper is ready, shall we?"  She gestured towards the closet door.

*****

Mara and Urd were at it again.  Lightning bolts and plasma discharges lit up the sky over the camp as the goddess and the demon argued over some trivial matter.

"Urd Super Lightning Bolt," cried the goddess, pointing a finger at Mara.  The result crashed down far from Mara but missed Xellos by mere inches.

"And that my dear Urd is why you are still a Goddess Second Class with a Limited license," said the Mazoku, brushing at the soot on his robes.  "I think that will be enough for tonight, don't you?"

"You stay out of this," snarled the blonde demon.  "Or send us home."

The master demon partially opened his eyes and glanced evilly at his former apprentice.  "Soon Mara, soon.  I want to see what Lady Washu has up her sleeve next.  I wonder how she's enjoying Amelia's company?"

"Why don't you go and ask her yourself?" mumbled Zelgadis from across the campfire, toasting marshmallows with Gourry and Lina.

A sudden popping sound caused Xellos' smile to widen further.  "I think we are about to find out anyway."  He looked off into the darkness of the forest.  "Whoever is out there, please come into the light.  I promise you that you won't be hurt."

Two young girls of about eleven stepped out of the brush.  They looked around appraising each person present.  The head of a small brown animal peeked out of the blue haired girl's backpack, while a bluish-green bird looked out of the other one.  Urd glanced at them for a moment then turned her attention back to Mara.  Suddenly her head snapped back around and she gave them a closer look.

"Sasami?" she wondered out loud.

"Ah, then this is the Juraian Princess that will host Lady Tsunami someday soon.  Why did Washu send her I wonder?" said Xellos, standing up and brushing himself off.  "Welcome then cousin.  Who is your friend?"

Urd looked closer.  The symbol was missing from Sasami's forehead.  "Um, you're not Princess Sasami, are you?"

The girl smiled and shook her head no.

"And I suppose that's not Ryo-ohki in your backpack then either."

"Yes I am," the cabbit spoke up.  "And you must be the goddess Urd.  I can tell by your symbols.  Queen Tsunami sends her greetings."

Urd was taken aback at hearing the cabbit talk, then she realized what must have happened.  Mara was clueless but Xellos was quick on the uptake as well.

"Queen Tsunami?  Oh, I see," chuckled Xellos.  "Very good Washu, very good indeed."  He resumed his seat near the fire.  "I can sense the energy in you.  Both of you.  You're not quite what you seem, are you?"

"Hey!  Just what do you mean by that?" asked Sasami with a hint of anger.

Xellos stuck out both his hands in conciliatory way, "No offense meant.  It's just that you both have a power beyond what a normal human child would have."

"Oh.  Well then, I suppose so.  We're both magical girls, aren't we Misao?"  Sasami nudged her shy friend.

"You mean like Lina here?"  Gourry wondered drowsily from his place at the edge of the fire.  His latest marshmallow attempt turned black and fell off the stick into the flames.  He watched in resignation as it slowly formed a little marshmallow cinder.  "She's a magical girl too.  Can you cast spells and summon things like her?"

Lina smacked him on the top of the head.  "Since when am I a girl?  I'll have you know that I'm a lady!"  Gourry didn't respond, as he was now unconscious.

"There'd be some here that disagree with that last statement," muttered Mara.

Lina stood up and whirled on the demoness, dropping her own stick in the dirt.  "What?  I heard that, demon.  Any time you wanna start again, I'm ready."

"Oh yeah?  How's about RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"  Mara stuck her tongue out at the sorceress.  

Lina's face turned bright red.  She held both her hands out in front of her and power began to flow between them, forming an energy ball.

Xellos smiled, _Oh, well played Lady Washu, well played indeed. _  He stood up again and stepped between the two prospective combatants.  "Ladies, ladies.  And I use the term _very_ loosely with _both_ of you.  Now is not the time for this.  I promise you that you will have a chance to settle your differences at a later date.  For now though, we have guests to make welcome."

Lina gave Mara an evil glare and dismissed the glowing ball.  Then she settled herself next to the still unconscious Gourry, picking up her stick and putting four marshmallows on it in compensation.  Mara grumbled and sat down near where Xellos had been sitting.  She snapped her fingers and a stick with _five_ marshmallows on it appeared in her hand.  She grinned at Lina.  Urd took a seat next to Mara and gestured for the two girls to join them.

*****

Deeper in the woods a shadowy figure with spikey hair and feral eyes watched the proceedings around the fire.  When everything was settled she relaxed herself against a tree trunk and pulled out a small device.  Speaking a few words into it quietly, she held it up to her ear to hear the response.  She nodded then said, again quietly, "Give Tenchi and Ayeka my love and tell them I'll see them in a few days.  And don't worry mom, I'll be careful."

Ryoko put Washu's Interreality Communicator away and stretched out her legs comfortably.  Her Ryo-ohki clambered up into her lap and looked into Ryoko's eyes.  She miya'd gently.  The pirate smiled, "Oh, don't worry about them, they'll be fine.  And anyway, _we're_ here to keep an eye on 'em, aren't we?"

The cabbit nodded her agreement then curled up in a ball on her master's lap.  Both drifted off to sleep as yet another argument broke out in the camp, this time between Lina Inverse and the goddess Urd.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

I haven't had Sasami and/or Misao transform Pretty Sammy and Pixy Misa yet.  They haven't had any reason to.  Don't worry, they will.

Ryo-ohki's reaction to finding out he's a girl here is pretty much the same as Tenchi's was in "The Great Cabbit Search".  It's intentional.  At least Ryo-ohki didn't pass out when he found out.

If anyone knows if Amelia's long-lost sister has an actual name, please tell me.  I'm at a point where I need to know and despite all my searching I haven't come across it yet.

I'm thinking of creating an e-mail notification list for updates/new pieces.  Any interest?

Review Responses

Alighthawk – Yep, four.  Unless you count Pretty Sammy as a part of Tenchi that is.  I may throw in a couple more at some point.  Then again, maybe not, things seem to be going well enough as is.

Blackbird – I've only seen one Cowboy Beebop episode so I know absolutely nothing about it.  I normally don't stay up that late because I work the next day.  I liked what I saw though.

Agent_86 – Ah.  Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler".  And that's one of the few CW songs I can stomach.  It'd make a nice theme song for this piece too.

Meekachu – No, a poker game, sort of.  And as far as theme music, I normally don't even give it a thought.  But see my response to Agent_86, either "The Gambler" or "Doolin' Dalton" by the Eagles.

Tanis – Yes, Naga is good!  But in order to do that I need to resolve whether or not she's really Amelia's long-lost sister.  I think she is.  As you can see, I'm working on it.

Dennisud – Like I said in my e-mail, Xellos & Washu?  Yuck.  Washu has it bad for Yosho remember?  And Xellos likes Filia.  As far as the three-way marriage, I'm not sure.  The only kind of relationship like that in Slayers would be the Lina-Gourry-Sylphiel one.  And we certainly don't want to give Gourry any ideas, not that they'd stick with him for long anyway.  I don't think it's going to be an issue, but I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it.

BobR

01/19/2002


	4. Who’s the Bimbo in the Black Leather? O...

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 4

Who's the Bimbo in the Black Leather?  Oh, Sorry Princess…

*****

It was quiet in the camp as Xellos flickered out.  Gourry, who was supposed to be keeping watch while the others slept, was still trying to keep a marshmallow on a stick over the fire.  Xellos heard him curse mildly as yet another fluffy confection burnt to a crisp.  The Mazoku smiled with anticipation as he disappeared.

Another camp in another part of the forest.  The demon materialized soundlessly and looked down at the woman gently snoring under a coarse blanket.  _Heh.  Yes, she'll do.  She'll do nicely.  Have fun, Princess. _  He smiled gently as he made a few passes over the sleeping form with his hands.  The girl faded out leaving nothing but the blanket behind.  Xellos chuckled to himself as he extinguished the fire, then with a flicker darker than the surrounding night he returned to his own camp.

*****

Katsuhito sat in the shrine office sipping his tea and thinking profound thoughts.  Well, he was sipping his tea at least; lately his thoughts had been turning in the direction of a very human goddess.  The more he thought about her, the more he saw past the façade she showed the rest of the world.  There were times though when the image crumbled, such as whenever little Taro visited or that one night here in the office when she came seeking information about the Norns.  Underneath the shell had been revealed a very lonely person.  But that was all long before she had stood before them that day in all her splendor, revealed as the third Juraian goddess.  Since then she had retreated back into that shell.  He sat, lonely himself, and considered options.

A noise from the courtyard roused him from his reverie.  He looked up as the door to the office slid open.  Standing there was a tall young woman, dressed in a skimpy black leather outfit.  A long sword was attached to her belt and she wore a necklace with the image of a grinning skull.  On her head was a tiara similar in design to his sister's, proclaiming that she might be some sort of royalty.  She stood there with her hands on her shapely hips and started to laugh.

"Oh ho ho ho ho…"

*****

Down in the valley below the shrine Sasami was showing Amelia how to play a video game.  A whisper of unidentifiable sound reached them, causing the hair on the back of Amelia's neck to stand up.  "What was that?" she asked the Juraian.

Sasami listened closely for a moment but didn't hear anything.  She shrugged, turning back to the game, "Oh probably just an animal of some sort.  Tenchi told us there were still wolves back in the mountains and there's wild dogs and cats too.  There are even a few monkeys around."

Amelia wasn't so sure, but since she wasn't familiar with the area she decided Sasami was probably right.  She too turned her attention back to the game, dismissing whatever it had been from her thoughts.

The phone rang, interrupting their game again.  Ayeka, who had been sitting on the couch knitting, went to answer it.  "Masaki residence.  Oh, hello brother Yosho.  Washu?  I suppose she's in her lab.  Yes, I'll go look and send her up to you at once.  You're welcome.  Goodbye."

Sasami turned her head as her sister crossed the room to the closet door.  "What did brother want Ayeka?" she asked.

Ayeka paused before knocking on the portal, "Nothing important Sasami.  He just said that something had come up that he needed to talk to Miss Washu about."  She politely tapped on the door with her knuckles.  Washu's image appeared in one of the small circles.

"Yes Ayeka, what is it?" the scientist asked.

"Brother Yosho would like to see you up at the shrine office 'mom'," Ayeka grimaced as she said the last word.  "He said there was no hurry, to come up at your leisure."

Washu broke out in laughter at the look on the princess's face when she said 'mom'.  She'd been after Ayeka and Tenchi to call her that almost since the wedding day.  "Finally.  But I still can't get Tenchi to say it.  I suppose I'd better get up there, if your brother says it isn't important it probably is.  If it really wasn't he'd wait until he got home to talk to me.  I wonder what it is…" Her image faded leaving Ayeka standing there with a slightly red face.

"One of these days Miss Washu, I'll…"  She composed herself and resumed her seat on the couch.  A roll of duct-tape suddenly appeared on the table in front of her.  She gritted her teeth, "Ooooh…"

*****

Washu glanced in the direction of the girl seated at the small table.  The priest had offered the girl some tea, but had been politely refused.  Sake on the other hand…

"She's drunk _how_ many bottles?  I don't believe it; I came as soon as Ayeka called.  Geez, she'd put Ryoko to shame, wouldn't she?"  Washu shook her head in disbelief as yet another empty bottle joined the small pile already on the floor.

The girl looked up at the pair watching her, "You know, this Sake stuff is pretty good.  I'll have to find out if there's any place back home that makes it.  It's almost as good as a well aged Zephillian wine.  Got any more?"  She opened another bottle.

"What do you think Tenchi will say when we take her home?" asked Washu, ignoring the girl's question for the moment.

Katsuhito looked at the scientist with humor, "Before or after the nosebleed?  But I'd be more concerned about Ayeka and Ryoko.  I _know_ how they're going to react."

Washu dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand, not taking her eyes off the woman as she killed another bottle of the wine.  "Ryoko's not a problem, she's away on a mission for me.  I think I can handle Ayeka too, so don't worry, the house should still be standing in the morning."

"Well, lets get her home then, before she drinks me out of business."  Katsuhito walked over to the woman and helped her to her feet gently as he could see she was in no condition to manage on her own.  Washu took her other arm and the two guided the now very unsteady stranger out the door.

"This is probably another one of Xellos' tricks," Washu said quietly.  "Did she mention her name?"

The woman hiccupped loudly, "My nam' ish Nahhg...  Nagi?  Nagu?  Ah, ferget it.  Wher' we goin'?"

Katsuhito shook his head in amusement, by every right the girl should be passed out considering the amount of alcohol she'd consumed in such a short time.  "Home," he replied.  "See the lights down in the valley?  That's our house.  But there's a lot of steps between here and there."

"I'll get ush ther' fast'r than walkin'" the girl bragged.  "Whatch!"  She grabbed the priest and scientist firmly by the arms.  "Hol' on.  Here we go!  RAY WING!"  The trio flew into the air, much to the astonishment of Washu and Katsuhito.  They had flown unsteadily almost the entire way to the house when suddenly the girl hiccupped again.

SPLASH!  The three hit the lake about twenty feet from the deck.

Ayeka, Sasami, Amelia and Tenchi ran outside to see what had happened.  Washu and Tenchi's grandfather were swimming toward the house, dragging an unconscious form behind them.  Tenchi and his wife helped the two get the girl out of the water.  The girl lay facedown on the deck, dripping water from every part of her body.  

Ayeka watched her husband to see what his reaction to the woman would be.  _Huh, I expected a trickle at least, _she thought when he showed no reaction except concern.

"Let's roll her over and let Amelia get a look at her.  Maybe she can tell us who she is," Washu said.  The two men got their arms under her and heaved.  Tenchi's face got slightly red as he realized just what portion of the girl's anatomy he was grabbing.

_Ah, there it is, _ chuckled Ayeka to herself.

The woman now lay face up and Amelia got her first good look at her.  Her eyes got big and she felt weak in the knees.  "Gracia," she moaned before collapsing in Sasami's arms.

Sasami looked at Amelia then at Washu.  "Who's Gracia?" she asked.

*****

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, Crown Princess of the country of Saillune, Defender of Justice, opened her eyes to find Sasami looking at her with a concerned expression.  She sat up and put a hand to her head.  "Sasami, I had the strangest dream.  I saw my sister Gracia, but she was older than I remember."

Sasami shook her head.  "Her name isn't Gracia, it's Naga.  And she's…" she stopped talking as Amelia grabbed her shoulders in fright.

"What did you say?  Who?" the princess asked in a low voice.

Sasami was starting to get frightened herself.  "The woman you saw, she woke up a little while ago.  She said her name was Naga, Naga the Serpent.  Sounds kinda strange to me."

Amelia moaned and grabbed her head, covering her eyes.  "It's her.  The rumors were right.  Her full name is Gracia Ul Naga Saillune and she's my older sister.  She's been missing for years."

Sasami brightened, "Well, then you should be happy you finally found her, right?"

"No, you don't understand.  She witnessed my mother's murder.  It was very gruesome, lots of blood and stuff.  She went crazy and ran away.  Daddy looked for her for a long time, but she was always one step ahead of him.  Finally he gave up.  She's crazy," Amelia repeated.

Sasami still didn't quite understand, she tried to calm the other girl down. "She didn't sound crazy to me when I talked to her, just a little weird."

"Does she know I'm here?" Amelia asked.

Sasami shook her head no.

The black haired girl grabbed the little princess by the shoulders again, "Look, don't tell her yet, I'm not ready to see her.  Give me a little while to get used to the idea first, ok?"

The small princess could see that the other was still very upset.  "All right Amelia.  Whenever you're ready."  She turned and headed for the door.  Amelia's arms fell limply to her sides.

"Sasami," Amelia said, suddenly reaching out and grabbing the smaller girl's arm.  "Can you be there when I'm ready?  I don't want to face her alone.  I don't know how she'll react, or how I will."

"We'll all be there Amelia.  And don't worry; she seems nice.  A little odd, but nice."

*****

The entire family was gathered in the living room watching Naga flip through the channels on the television.  The sorceress was amazed that pictures and sound could come from a box without magic.  She paused at an infomercial for some exercise equipment, giggling at the demonstration.  Her entire attention was focused on the screen, ignoring everything else going on around her.

Amelia peeked over the rail and saw the group below her.  Gathering her nerve, she started down the stairs.  Sasami noticed her and nudged Ayeka who in turn tapped Washu on the shoulder.  Sasami beckoned Amelia over to stand next to her.  

Naga flipped to another station that was showing "Star Wars".  The lightsaber battle between Ben and Darth Vader grabbed her attention and she started to laugh. "Oh ho ho ho ho…"

Everyone covered their ears.  Amelia screamed, startling Naga away from the TV.  The tall woman turned and her eyes bored into Amelia's matching set.  Amelia cowered behind Sasami.

"Is… is that… is that who I think it is?" stuttered Naga.  "Amelia?  It is!  Little sis!"  She stood up, the TV forgotten for the moment.  Opening her arms she took a step toward the princess.  Amelia ducked down farther.

"Amelia, why are you afraid of me?  I haven't seen you in years, come to big sister." Naga stretched her arms out further.

Amelia took a tentative step away from Sasami and toward Naga.  Then another and another.  She threw herself into her sister's arms, crying.  Suddenly she started beating on the larger girl's shoulders, "Why did you run away?  Why didn't you come back?  Father looked for you and you never came back, why?"

Naga hugged her sister tightly, "I couldn't.  It was my fault you know, if I'd been stronger mama would still be here."

"It wasn't your fault, it was you they were trying to kill, then they would have come after me.  Mama was protecting us."  Amelia collapsed, sobbing.

Naga looked up at the others, tears in her eyes.  "Why didn't you tell me she was here?"

Amelia sniffed, "Because I told them not to.  I wasn't sure I could face you again.  Will you come home with me when this is over?"

Naga hugged her sister closer, "No, I've made a new life for myself.  I'm not a princess any more.  I can't ever go back to that life."

Ayeka felt sympathy for the other woman.  She wondered how she would have reacted if Ryoko had managed to kill Sasami that day.  She took a step forward only to feel her brother's hand on her shoulder.  She looked back at him and saw him shake his head.  She nodded and stepped back.

"Don't tell daddy about this, all right?" Naga asked.  "If you do he'll just go off on one of his quests again.  You know how he is."

Amelia giggled, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve.  "What about Lina, does she know who you are?"

Naga was surprised.  She held her sister out in front of her.  "Lina?  You know Lina Inverse?  How?  Where?  I've been looking for her for years.  Where is she?"

Amelia grinned, "Silly, I've been traveling with her and the others for two years now.  She's never mentioned you at all."

"Yeah, well we didn't exactly part under the best of circumstances.  I've been looking for her to apologize," Naga explained.

"Apologize?" wondered Amelia. "For what?  What did you do?"

Naga's face turned bright red.  "Um, I, er, I tried to seduce her.  It was a mistake."

Amelia was shocked.  "WHAT?  YOU WHAT?  No, not my sister.  Never."

Naga looked at the floor and played with her fingers.  "Actually yes.  But I don't have to explain myself to anyone except Lina.  And don't be mad at me, please?"

Amelia threw her arms around Naga's neck.  "I'm not.  Whatever you are, whoever you are, I'm glad I got to see you again."

Katsuhito looked at Washu, "I think it's time to end this game of yours before someone accidentally gets hurt."

Washu stared at the floor between her feet for a moment before replying.  "You're right of course, this has to stop.  But there's someone I have to call first, she needs to be there at the end."  The red head got to her feet and moved toward the portal to her lab.

"Washu, who are you going to call?  Who needs to be there?" Tenchi asked.

Washu's mouth twisted into a crooked grin.  She put a finger to her mouth and winked at the group.  "That," she said in a conspiratorial tone, "is a secret."  Washu disappeared into her lab singing "Sixteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest" quietly.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

If you're wondering about the duct-tape, just wait, all will be revealed in a later chapter.  To everyone who responded to my request for Naga's real name, thanks.  After hearing from you I did a search for "Gracia Saillune" and came up with several sites that confirmed it.

If you're wondering where I got the idea of Naga trying to seduce Lina, at the end of "Slayers the Motion Picture" Naga gives Lina a slow, appraising look as Lina stands there in her bathing suit by the Spring of Growth.  Lina says something along the lines of "What do you think you're doing Naga?" then gets an odd look on her face and starts running.  Naga gives chase, laughing the whole time.

Review Responses

Blif00 – A Slayers fic huh?  I don't know, that group doesn't seem to be as forgiving of details as the Tenchi group.  But I'll think about it.

Dennisud – I'm not paying for the support services so I don't think it's an option for me.  I'm seriously thinking about putting up the cash though.  You're on my e-mail list as of now though.

Vsdefender – I understand, I feel the way about some fics I've read.  Doesn't keep me from enjoying them though and sometimes it motivates me to seek out information on the series.  As far as Washu/Yosho, it's mainly a fanfic thing I guess, but there are grounds for it, in Tenchi in Tokyo they seemed very close at the end.  But I'm not going to check it out.  Once was enough for that series.

Blackbird – A partial interview I read with the creator of Slayers seemed to confirm the sisters part, but there are/were no plans to explore it.  That's up to us fic writers.

Alighthawk – Might I suggest starting with "Slayers, the Motion Picture"?  The animation is good, the story's not bad and it'll give you a fairly good feeling for the series.  It only has Lina and Naga in it though, and maybe one of Gourry's ancestors.  There are plenty of websites that have episode synopsis' on them too.  I downloaded the whole TV series (all three series in fact) from Usenet (alt.binaries.anime) earlier this year.


	5. Full House: Goddesses and Space Pirates

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 5

Full House: Goddesses and Space Pirates

*****

Washu closed the door to her lab behind her leaving the others wondering what she was up to.  She was a bit annoyed at herself that she hadn't seen the resemblance between Naga and Amelia earlier; it was rather obvious when they were seen together.  She walked through her menagerie to a room she kept locked from the others.  The door opened itself when it sensed her standing in front of it and bright light poured out.  Inside was technology she didn't want the others to know about, although they were currently using simpler forms of it.  She stepped over to a panel that had been dormant for months and keyed a combination into a pad.  Only one other person had that combination and that person was a long way away.

Washu summoned a floating cushion and sat down.  She didn't know how long it would take that other person to answer, but she was prepared for a long wait if needed, however the response was almost immediate.

"Hey Washu, what's up?" came a very familiar voice from a hidden speaker.  "I was wondering if you were ever going to call me.  How're things going with your group?"

Washu contemplated the ceiling as she answered.  "Things are fine here, Minagi, but a little confused at the moment.  Got any free time?  I have something in the works that you might be interested in."

She could hear the excitement in the pirate's voice as she answered, "Does it concern 'you know who'?"

"Yep."

"YEAH!" Minagi's voice exclaimed.  "I'll make the time.  When do you want me?"

Washu smiled at the other's enthusiasm.  "How 'bout now?  But we can't take Hinase this time."

"Hey!  I heard that Washu!  Why not?" came the computer's voice faintly from the background.

"Because I don't have the time to set it up," the scientist explained to the ship.  "It's easier to transport a single person than it is a whole ship.  Anyway, Ryo-ohki and Ay-ohki will be there in case we need the fire support.  If you could turn yourself into something besides a cruiser it'd be different."

"That's not my fault," the computer responded.  "But I suppose I understand.  All right then, I'll head for Earth and meet Minagi there when she's done."

Minagi spoke up again, "I'm ready whenever Washu, what do you want me to do?"

"Just… stand… right… there." Washu made a minor adjustment and flipped a switch.  The lights dimmed for a second and the pirate appeared near the ceiling.  Unprepared for materializing several feet in the air, the cyan haired girl fell to the floor with a thud, landing on her shapely bottom.  Once again Washu was astonished at the how closely the girl resembled her own daughter.  Except for the cheek scars and attitude that is.

"Ouch!" said Minagi as she stood up and rubbed her sore spot.  Hinase could be heard in the background calling for Washu or his master.  "It's ok Hinase, I'm fine.  I'm here with Washu now.  You could have given me some warning Washu," the pirate admonished.

The small scientist chuckled, "Well, you did say whenever, and no time like the present as the saying goes.  Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone else."

*****

Lina Inverse was leading the now slightly larger than normal group along the road toward the next village.  It would have been easier to fly, after all, she, Xellos and Zelgadis could at need, and obviously the goddess and female demon could as well since they were currently floating along next to the Mazoku.  But Gourry and the two young ones couldn't so it was easier if everyone walked.  Except that Sasami and Misao weren't really walking either.  The blue haired girl was perched on the swordsman's shoulders while Misao rode on Zel's.  The usually somber chimera seemed to be enjoying the young girl's company.  Perhaps she reminded him of Amelia a little bit.

Amelia.  The red headed sorceress once again wondered how the princess was doing.  Xellos assured them that everything was all right with her and she'd be rejoining them soon, but she wasn't sure.  Lina paused at the top of a hill looking down on the town a little ways ahead.  Something just didn't feel right about it…

"Ah, Lina.  So you feel it too," said Xellos coming up to stand next to her.  "There's something wrong down there, something evil."

Lina snorted.  "Evil.  Heh, if anyone would know about _that_ it'd be you, wouldn't it?"

Xellos smiled benignly at her. "Oh, you cut me.  I'm injured by your words."  The smile slipped from his face.  "But seriously my dear, whatever is in that town is much worse than I am.  I feel it and I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you, just like when you fought Hellmaster Phibrizo."

The sorceress crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him, looking down into the town again.  "So you're going to run away?  Figures."

"I didn't say that, I just said I wouldn't be much help.  Regardless of how it may have looked at times, I've never deserted you.  One doesn't do that to… friends."

Lina turned her head to look at the master demon.  "Friends, eh?  Well you sure have a strange way of showing it sometimes."

Xellos' smile reappeared, "Well, I _am_ a demon after all."

*****

Tenchi, Ayeka and Sasami had met Minagi before when Xellos had caused her to be sent to them in another reality.  She'd been helpful there and Sasami had taken an instant liking to the pirate who claimed to be Ryoko's, although not _their_ Ryoko, daughter.  Washu introduced Katsuhito, Naga and Amelia.  Minagi knew the Katsuhito from her own reality, but Naga and Amelia were new to her.  Washu explained what was happening to the girl.

"All right!  This is gonna be great," the pirate exclaimed, extending her arm into the air.  "When do we leave?"

"Well, we're not in a pressing hurry, so how's about right after lunch?"

After the meal everyone except the old priest gathered in Washu's lab near the Reality Hopper.  Washu knelt down next to Sasami.  "Sasami dear, I don't think it's a good idea for you to go with us, so I'm asking you nicely to stay here."

Sasami had tears in her eyes and was about to speak when Tsunami's image appeared next to her.  "Sister," said the goddess.  "She must go with you because I have to be there as well.  Something is about to happen that will require my presence."

"If it's gonna be that dangerous then I definitely don't want her there.  She stays."  Washu stated.

"No sister," came a sultry voice from behind her.  "It's as Tsunami says.  And I too must go with you on this journey."

Washu looked over her shoulder to see Tokimi standing there.  "Well, well.  Look who's condescended to make an appearance.  I haven't seen you in so long I thought you'd gone home."

Tokimi smiled at her sister.  "I've been exploring this universe of yours.  There are many fascinating things here; I had no idea.  But I was called here, to this moment, as Tsunami was.  We all must go."

Washu stood up and brushed off her knees.  A subspace hole appeared next to her.  "I suppose I'll be needing these then," she said reaching into the space and pulling out the three red gems.

"It is possible sister," Tokimi agreed.  "Best to have them ready."  She pulled her own gem out of thin air and showed it to Washu before tucking it into her robes.

Washu looked around at everyone and suddenly she was in her adult form.  She nodded to her sisters.  "I guess that since the three of us are here we won't have to use the machinery to transfer.  We can do it ourselves."

Tokimi shook her head, "No Washu.  We must use your technology.  It may be nothing, but I have this feeling…"

"What's going on?" Naga whispered to her little sister.

"Sasami explained it to me, Washu is really a goddess and these others must be her sisters.  Sasami will merge with Tsunami when she grows up, so she's sort of a proto-goddess."

"Goddesses huh?  Cool.  We're traveling in high circles now, aren't we?  Heh."  Naga grinned from ear-to-ear.

Washu reached across the control console for the switch.  "I'm sending us to the last location I have for Ryoko."

Back in the house, Katsuhito calmly sipped a cup of tea as the lights flickered for a moment.

*****

Lina and Gourry crept into the town, alert for any trouble.  The rest of the group was strung out behind them with Xellos bringing up the rear.  The town appeared deserted but movement could be heard within the closed buildings and seen as shadows behind closed blinds.  It gave everyone a creepy feeling to know they were being watched but not seeing anyone.

They gathered in the town square, the happy burbling of the fountain the only sound heard.  Lina looked at Xellos who was no longer smiling.  His malevolent eyes were wide open and fixed on a building across the open area as if he were expecting something to come from there.  It didn't.  It came from the other direction, the direction Zelgadis had been looking.

"Demons!" Zel called, pointing to a group streaming out of a building.  

Xellos looked over his shoulder.  "No, not demons, undead," he corrected the chimera.

"Joyrock!" said Lina, whirling to face the horde.

Xellos gave a mirthless chuckle, "No, not him.  You took care of that wimp long ago.  This is something else, something I'm not familiar with."

"Fireball!" shouted Lina, launching the attack.  Several of the monsters were immediately crisped.  _Heh, _ she thought.  _Not so tough after all. _  She felt Gourry tap her on the shoulder.  Looking back she saw more of the creatures coming from other buildings.  _Uh oh… _

Zelgadis had his hands full with a group of undead townsfolk.  He lopped off body parts with his sword and when time permitted used flare arrows to eliminate several at once.  Not for the first time he wished Amelia was there to back him up.  His thoughts turned to the two small girls, he hoped they were all right but he was too busy defending himself to look for them.

Sasami and Misao cowered down next to the fountain.  Ryo-ohki popped out of Sasami's backpack with the baton.  "Sasami, I think it's time," he said.  Rumiya was expressing a similar opinion to Misao.  Sasami nodded and took the baton.

"Pretty Mutation Magical Recall!" she shouted and the transformation began.  Next to her something similar was happening.

"Pixy Mutation Magical Recall!" yelled Misao.

"Hello everybody!  Pixy Misa is here to save the day," said the blonde girl in the leather outfit, prancing out into the street.  Pretty Sammy whacked her with her baton.  "When you need a magical solution, trust Sammy," she said, assuming her trademark pose.

Mara, who had been in the process of ripping one of the monsters apart with her bare hands, paused to watch the two.  What she saw caused her to fall down laughing.  "Where did you get that outfit?" she asked Sammy.  She gave Misa an appraising glance.  "I like yours though.  But don't you think it's a little… _old_ for you?"

"Shut up Mara and get to work," called Urd, sending another lightning bolt into a group of undead.  Then she saw what had grabbed Mara's attention.  "Oh my!  You two _are_ something.  Magical Girls indeed!  Hahahahaha!"  She joined Mara on the ground.

Sammy had had about enough.  "Misa?" she called.  The other girl nodded and began to look around.  Spotting a sword lying on the ground, she pointed to it.

"Calling Mystics!" she cried.  The sword floated into the air and started to take on a human and most definitely female form.  "Sword Girl, take care of these things while I help Sammy."  The newly transformed sword waded into the undead villagers.

"Sammy!" Misa called out, holding her cane over her head.

"Right!" said Sammy, taking Misa's hand and raising her own baton.

"Converge Magical Powers of Justice!" yelled Sammy.  Zel looked around at the words, expecting to see Amelia.

"Pretty," cried Sammy.

"Lovely," cried Misa.

"Coquettish Bomber!" called both girls.  Bolts of light shot out from both wands and merged together.  Where it hit, monsters simply crumbled to dust.  When the light faded a large number of the fiends were simply gone.

"Wow.  I'm impressed," said Urd, standing up and dusting herself off.  Mara nodded in dumbstruck agreement.

"Yeah," said Lina.  "But what about them?"  She pointed to another group streaming down the street.  "How many of them are there anyway?"

"More than we can fight like this my dear," Xellos told her.  His robes had been torn in several places but he appeared otherwise unscathed.

Lina sighed in resignation, "I suppose I don't have a choice then, do I?"

Xellos smiled at her.  "You _have_ changed.  A year ago you wouldn't have thought twice about it, but no, there's no choice at all."

Lina looked down for a moment.  When she raised her head there was a joyous smile on her face.  She brought both hands close together in front of her.

"_Darkness beyond twilight; Crimson beyond the blood that flows;_"

A glow began to form between the sorceress' hands.  Zelgadis picked up a magical girl under each arm and yelled at Urd and Mara, "RUN!  As fast and as far as you can!"

"_Buried in the flow of time; In Darkness' name I pledge myself to thee;_"

"Just do as he says," called Gourry as he fled past the goddess and demoness.  They took off after him, not quite knowing why.  Lina's hair and cape began to move as if in a strong wind, but the day was absolutely calm.  

"_Let the fools who would stand against us be destroyed; By the power you and I possess…_"

"Oh God, here it comes…" Zel moaned, ducking for cover with the two girls.  The glow had spread to encompass the sorceress' whole body, her face held a look of rapture.

"_DRAGON SLAVE!_"

A beam of bright red light shot from Lina's hands toward the mass of undead closing in on her.  Where it hit things simply… disappeared.  A dome of light spread over the village, as it faded a mushroom shaped cloud that was visible for miles hung overhead.  The only thing left of what had once been a prosperous trading center was a crater.  And at the bottom of that crater something moved.

Lina shook herself and took a deep breath.  She surveyed the damage she'd caused.  "I love this job!" she shouted to the world, throwing her fist into the air.

*****

Miles away another group felt the ground shake and saw the bright light.  Ayeka pointed to the cloud that was barely visible in the distance.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked Washu.

The scientist, still in adult form, pulled out a measuring device and pointed it at the cloud.  "Um hmm.  Nope, not nuclear.  No radiation.  I don't know what it was."  Amelia tugged at her sleeve.

"Lady Washu," she said, drawing an annoyed look from the red head.  "Er, I mean Washu, I think that was them.  It looks like Lina cast a Dragon Slave."

Naga overheard her sister. "Oh ho ho ho ho!  So Lina's at it again is she?  Well, we'll just have to hurry along.  RAY W…"

"Wait, wait," said Washu, holding up her hand.  "We have a faster way.  Ayeka?"

"Yes, of course Washu."  The princess took Ay-ohki off her shoulder and cuddled him a moment.  "Ready dear heart?" she asked the cabbit.  The small animal's eyes sparkled with anticipation.  "Let's go!"  She tossed the cabbit up into the air.

Amelia and Naga stared open-mouthed as the small, cute, fuzzy animal became a giant crystalline starship.  Of course, being from a non-technological society they had no idea what a starship was.  Still, the transformation was impressive.

Ay-ohki transported the group onto his command deck where Ayeka took her place in the pilot's seat.  "All right Ay-ohki, head for the cloud.  Best speed."

A screen popped open in front of the group.

* Will Ryo-ohki be there? * the cabbit displayed for all to see.

"Yes, I would think so.  Ryoko can't resist a good fight you know," the princess replied.

"Rrrooowwrrrrrr!"  The cabbit zoomed of in search of his mate.

*****

Ryoko got to the scene somewhat after the fact.  She'd been following the group, but keeping her distance so as not to be found out.  Now she was sorry.  She located them standing at the rim of the crater, looking at something at the bottom.  Landing gently she walked up to peer over Urd and Mara's shoulders.

"Geez, what happened here?  And what's that thing at the bottom there?" she asked.

"Eeek!" screamed Mara, nearly falling into the hole.

"Oh.  Hi Ryoko.  I was wondering when you'd show up," said Urd, not even turning around.

The rest of the group turned at Mara's scream.  Sammy and Misa instantly recognized the cyan haired beauty.

"Ryoko!" they both called, running to her.  Ryoko looked at the two magical girls.

"Nice outfits," she commented dryly.

"She's pretty, I wonder if she needs a bodyguard," mumbled Gourry, drawing a smack from Lina that sent him to his knees.  Urd overheard him too.

"Sorry, big guy, she's married," the goddess said to the swordsman.

Zelgadis looked at the pirate for a moment then turned his attention back to whatever it was down in the hole.  Lina, after helping Gourry to his feet, looked around and saw someone was missing.

"Hey!  Where's Xellos?  He was here a minute ago…" she wondered.

*****

To be continued

*****

Author's Notes

The next chapter will be the last in this series, after that I'm not sure what I'll do.  But I'll think of something.

If you're wondering about Misa's transformation, Episode 23 of "Magical Project S" is the only time we ever hear her utter Pixy Misa's transformation spell.  All the other times she just appears because Misao is unaware of Misa's existence until just before that point and Rumiya had always forced the transformation.

I kinda thought the last chapter was pretty bad.  I may rewrite the Naga/Amelia scene at some point.  It seems to be lacking something.  I had fun with this chapter though.

Hey, I forgot something in the notes of the last chapter:

If anyone from the Ohayocon group reads this (not likely) I had a great time there a couple of weeks ago.  The cosplay was… unique.  I'm disappointed you cancelled the fanfic writing panel though; I was looking forward to it.

Review Responses

Priest – Here it is.

Faefrost – There's a bit more of Lina in this chapter.

The DragonBard – Whoa, that was quite a review (just kidding).  Glad you like it; at least I think you do.

Alighthawk – The AMG! stuff is already out on video, the OAVs have been out on VHS for a while and the movie and OAVs were just released on DVD late last year.  The movie has Peorth, the fourth goddess, in it as well as the other three goddesses.  And yes, it is a certain red headed scientist Yosho's thinking about.  I don't know if I'll take it anywhere beyond just that right now.  Did I mention AMG! The Movie has Peorth in it?


	6. Showdown

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 6

Showdown

*****

Xellos flickered into existence in the rear area of Ay-ohki's command deck, unnoticed by the others gathered there.  He looked around the chamber admiring the elegant simplicity of the design.  Since he'd never been on a starship before he was interested in everything around him.  A red light blinking on Ay-ohki's main screen caught his attention, though he couldn't make out the words flashing under it.

_ Ayeka, we have a visitor, _ the ship beamed to his master.  The words * Intruder Detected * continued to flash on the screen.

_I know dear, he's standing behind us, _ the princess replied.

Xellos was too involved in watching the operation of the ship to notice Tsunami's astral form materialize next to him.  The first thing he knew about it was when he felt her phantom touch on his arm.

"Ah, Xellos," the goddess said quietly.  "Come, let us greet the others."  Her immaterial hand beckoned him forward.  Hearing his footsteps, the others turned around.

"Xellos!" cried Amelia, running to the demon and throwing her arms around him. "I'm so happy to see you."  She let him go and took a step back.  Suddenly she began throwing punches at him.  "Don't… You… Ever… Do… This… To… Me… Again!"  

Naga rushed forward to restrain her sister.  "So, this is the demon who sent us to the other world.  Hmph," Naga snorted.  "He doesn't look so tough to me.  I, Naga the Serpent, am not pleased."  A green glow began to form between her hands.

"Ladies, ladies!  Not on the ship!" Washu interrupted.  "Save it for later.  And there _will_ be a later, I promise," she said, giving Xellos the evil eye.

"Ah, Lady Washu," the demon said, bowing low.  "So we meet at last.  Lady Tokimi, Prince Tenchi.  And that must be Ayeka.  Welcome to the family princess."

"Cut the crap Xellos," Washu sneered.  "What are you doing here?"

Xellos smiled at her.  "When I saw your daughter Ryoko I knew you wouldn't be far behind My Lady.  As you can see," he nodded toward the mushroom cloud growing larger as they drew closer, "we have a situation.  I'm asking for your help."

"Tenchi's a prince?" Amelia muttered to her sister.  "I didn't know he was a prince.  I though he was just a normal boy.  He doesn't _act_ like a prince."

"Well, you can't judge a book by its cover I always say," replied Naga.

Washu was shaking a finger at the demon.  "Tell me why I have to help you; after all, the reason I'm here is because Minagi and I owe you one."

Xellos opened his eyes and frowned. "Because if you don't, it could mean the end of this world.  And maybe others as well."

*****

Lina Inverse looked up as the giant white form hissed to a stop overhead.  _What now? _ she thought.  _Is that another monster I have to fight? _  She watched as a beam of light shot down from its underside and a group of people materialized.  The monster appeared to fold in on itself and became a small white creature similar to the one the Magical Girls had.  The creature let out a "Rowr" and hopped up onto the shoulder of a medium sized woman with light blue hair.  Lina inspected the group of new arrivals with interest.  There was the woman with the animal, a tall red head, a young man, a woman with cyan hair who looked vaguely familiar, a tall woman with brown hair, a girl who looked amazingly like one of the Magical Girls, Xellos, Amelia, and…

"Oh ho ho ho ho!  So Lina, up to your old tricks again eh?  Thought you could keep away from me did you?  No one outsmarts Naga the White Serpent.  Oh ho ho ho ho!"

Lina fell to her knees.  "Tell me it's not true," she moaned.  "Tell me it's not really Naga."

"But it is.  I've found you at last, Lina Inverse.  Oh ho ho ho ho ho!" Naga laughed.

Lina covered her ears. "Make it stop, oh please make it stop."  The tall red head smacked Naga with a closed fan.  Naga went silent, rubbing the back of her head.  The little girl ran forward.

"Ryoko!" cried Sasami as she ran to the pirate and gave her a hug.

"Hey, glad to see ya princess," said Ryoko.  Ryo-ohki hopped onto Sasami's head.

"Oh, Ryo-ohki!" Sasami giggled.

"Miya!" the cabbit replied.

The group walked over to the others and looked down into the crater.  The black mass that everyone had been watching still oozed around the bottom.  Washu turned to Xellos.

"So that's it?" she asked.  "That's what you're so afraid of?  What a wimp.  I've seen oil spills that looked more evil than that."

Xellos nodded.  "Lady Washu, I can feel the evil flowing from whatever that is.  We need to destroy it.  Immediately."

"I'll take care of it mom," Ryoko said, flying into the air and sending a plasma bolt singing down into the pit.

"No!" Washu called out.  "Ryoko, wait!  Damn, too late.  She always acts before she thinks."

"I'll help her Washu." Minagi joined Ryoko over the crater and both began firing plasma at the black mass."

"Like mother, like daughter.  Sorta," Washu sighed.

Lina could now see why the cyan haired newcomer looked so familiar.  Except for the cheek marks, she looked and sounded just like the other woman who had suddenly shown up a little while before.  Both were displaying an amazing amount of raw power.  

A black strand suddenly shot up from the crater and knocked Minagi to the ground.  _Uh oh, _ Ryoko beamed to Washu.  _I think we've made it mad. _  The pirate formed her energy sword and took a swipe at the black rope.  Minagi recovered and energized her own sword.  She flew back into the fight.  A mass of black tentacles shot up into the air.  One tossed Ryoko away; she landed with a sickening thud.  Another grabbed Minagi by the leg and flung her toward the others.  Everyone dodged the flying pirate, but Sasami wasn't fast enough.  Pirate and princess collided and fell to the ground, out of the fight for a while.

Ryoko got slowly to her feet.  It hurt, but nothing felt broken.  She looked over at the others and saw Ayeka bending over Minagi and Sasami.  She could see the glow starting to form on the princess' forehead and she grinned painfully.  Ayeka was pissed off now as well and her demon side was beginning to come out.  The pirate staggered over to the crater and looked inside only to be knocked back as the black mass heaved itself up.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi cried, running to his fallen wife.  By the time he reached her he was in Juraian battle armor.

"I'm ok dear, just a little stunned," the pirate said, sitting up.  "Whatever that is, my power has no effect on it.  Except to make it angry that is."

"Let me try," Tenchi said.  "You go help Ayeka with Sasami.  Keep them safe."  

A black strand smashed down, knocking the young prince of his feet.  When he got up again his Lighthawk Wings had formed.  Ryoko sighed.  "That's my husband.  It takes a force of nature to get him to do anything."  Tenchi heard her and smiled.  Blackness was falling everywhere now so Ryoko drew on Tenchi's power and formed her own Wings as she flew to help the princess.

*****

Lina watched as Tenchi and Ryoko talked.  The boy was cute, and in that outfit he looked even better.  Amelia sidled up to her.

"He's an honest to goodness Prince you know?" she said to Lina.

"A prince?" Lina's eyes lit up. "From where?"

"Some place called Jurai," Amelia answered innocently.  "The girl with the white animal is a princess from there too."

"His sister!  Heh," smiled Lina.

"Um, no," said Amelia.  "Actually more like his wife.  The woman he was just talking too, well she's his wife too."

"Two wives?" Lina asked, stunned.

"Yeah, I guess it's kinda normal for royalty from there."  They dodged a piece of the blackness that hit near them.  "Maybe he'd like to try for three."  Amelia nudged Lina with her elbow.

"Uh no, I think I'll pass.  But maybe he has a brother…"

*****

Ryoko reached Ayeka and the others.  "Is she all right?" she asked her friend.

"She'll be fine, I think.  But I'm angry now."  Ayeka whirled toward the blackness, eyes beginning to glow.  Her purple energy blade formed and dissipated as she clenched and unclenched her fist.

Ryoko put her hand out to touch her sister/wife's shoulder.  Ayeka reacted violently at the contact.  The energy surge forced Ryoko away as a set of reddish Lighthawk Wings formed around the princess.  "Ayeka!" yelled the pirate, trying to break through to her friend.  "Look!  Look what you did!"

Startled, Ayeka's eyes cleared but the Wings remained.  "I did it, didn't I?"  The princess inspected her newfound ability.  A piece of blackness struck her Wings but didn't penetrate.  Ayeka reveled in her new power and her eyes began to glow again.

"No!  Ayeka!"  Ryoko forced her own Wings against Ayeka's, energy crackled loudly as they intersected.  The princess' eyes cleared again.  "Protect your sister!" Ryoko shouted.  "I'll take care of Minagi."

Nearby, Pretty Sammy, Pixy Misa and the chimera Zelgadis watched the exchange.  Misa turned to her counterpart.  "Ma Cherie, I think we're waay out of our league here," she said.

"For once Misa, I think you're right," said Sammy.  

A black tentacle moved in their direction.  Zelgadis, self-appointed guardian of Magical Girls, grabbed them both and ducked behind a rock.  He knew when he was outclassed too.

*****

The black mass formed itself into a vaguely humanoid form.  Where its head would be two glowing purple spots served as eyes.

"Power!" it rumbled.  "I feel the power gathered here.  Give it to me!"  The purple 'eyes' roamed over the group and settled on Xellos.  "Give me the power!"

Xellos floated up until he was level with the glow.  "What are you?  Where are you from?" he asked the creature.

There was another rumble from deep within the being.  "I am from everywhere and nowhere.  There was a disruption in the barriers between the realities and my parts were drawn to this place, the source of the power.  Give me the power."

"Why are you here?" the demon asked.

"Because you opened the gate."  It was becoming easier for the monster to speak.  "I came because the path was open."

Washu shook her head in disbelief.  "That _idiot_.  By using his power to transport the others, he opened the way for this _thing_ to come here."

"And I suppose you had nothing to do with it?" snorted Ryoko.

"My machines are point-to-point.  They don't leave a gap in the barriers," the scientist explained.

"What are you?" asked Xellos again, louder, becoming annoyed with the thing.  

It raised what passed for a hand and idly batted the demon away as if he were a bothersome insect.  The being laughed, " We have all met before.  I have had many names and forms over the millenniums and across the realities, but never before have I been able to assemble more than a small fraction of myself in a single place."  The being focused its attention on Tenchi.  "To you, prince, parts of me have been known as Kain, Kagato and Yahuza."  Switching to Lina it said, "And to you sorceress I have been Joyrock, Phibrizo and Darkstar among others.  I have been something to all of you, living in your nightmares and coloring your thoughts.  And now fate has brought us together one more time."

Lina shuddered at the memories the names brought.  She looked up at what served as the head of the beast.  "You aren't the Lord of Nightmares, I've met her and she's nothing like you."

"Yes, this is true.  She is one of the Old Ones and a part of her lives in you, I can sense this.  But even she is not powerful enough to banish me, it would take several of the Old Ones to do so and I sense none of them here."

"But we can still hurt you," shouted the red headed sorceress. " Maybe we can convince you to leave on your own."

The being threw back it's head and laughed.  "Ah, a challenge then.  So be it.  But I won't kill you; I enjoy your pain too much.  It's been too long since I've had this powerful of a form and I want to play with it for a while.  This reality is full of power to use and beings to play with."

"Yeah, yeah.  Whatever.  Look, I'm hungry and we don't have all day."  Lina looked over at Tenchi, "Well Prince of Jurai, are you ready?"  Tenchi nodded and formed the Lighthawk Sword.

Washu looked at Tokimi and Tsunami.  Tokimi nodded back to her but Tsunami didn't respond.  The red headed scientist sighed and put a hand on Tenchi's shoulder.  "Wait a sec Tenchi."  She pulled the three gems from her pocket as Tokimi removed her gem from her robes.  Tsunami just looked on, a frown upon her face.

After another glance at her sister Tokimi, Washu closed her eyes and concentrated.  The gems faded out and a symbol, three glowing spots in a triangular formation, appeared on Washu's forehead.  An aura of some sort seemed to encompass her.  

The creature reared back.  "It seems I was mistaken, there _is_ one of the Old Ones among you."

"You _are_ mistaken, _thing_.  There are two of us."  Heads snapped around as Tokimi too was transformed.  "Sister," she said, looking at Tsunami.  "Only you are left.  Help us."

Tsunami looked at the ground.  "I…  I can't.  My power is still sealed on Jurai.  To unseal it would mean totally assimilating with Sasami and she's not ready yet.  It must be at a time of her choosing, not mine."

"Then we may fail," said Tokimi quietly.

"No," Tsunami's head came up.  "There is another here who also has the power of the Old Ones within them."

Heads shifted to look at Lina.  "Who, me?" she squeaked.

"No, not Lina Inverse, although she does have a small bit of the power.  I speak of the goddess Urd," explained Tsunami.

Urd shook her head, "Not me.  My father isn't…"

"Not your father, your mother," said the Juraian goddess.

"My mother was a demoness."

"True," agreed Tsunami, "but she was also one of the Old Ones.  She is sister to the Lord of Nightmares and her power is in you.  Reach down and unlock it."

Urd searched and she found the truth in Tsunami's words.  Her goddess symbol began to glow and split into three parts.  Mara knelt down and hid her face.  "She's turning into the Lord of Darkness again."  The demoness felt a hand on her shoulder.  She raised her head to look into the stern expression on her friend's face.  "You're not going to ask me to get you a big screen TV again are you?"

The transformed goddess laughed and it was a terrible and beautiful sound.  "No Mara.  Not until we get home anyway; besides, I don't think you could find one around here.  But I'm still Urd.  The same Urd that sings karaoke with you sometimes."  The goddess stepped away from the demoness and over to where Washu and Tokimi were standing.  She looked up at the black mass, "Heh, funny that you mentioned fate earlier.  I'm a Norn, elder sister of Verdandi and Skuld.  We three sisters _control_ fate.  Look, now there're _three_ of us.  Still want to try your luck?"

The being screamed and dove for the goddesses.  As it passed, Tenchi swiped at it with his sword, cutting off a large piece.  The piece fell to the ground then immediately flowed back into the whole.  Lina launched a fireball, which had absolutely no effect.  Neither did Amelia's flare arrows or Naga's freeze arrows.  Zelgadis continued to shield the two small girls with his body while Gourry hacked at the blackness with his sword.  Just like with Tenchi, the pieces he managed to cut off flowed back into the creature.  Ryoko and Ayeka used their Lighthawk Wings to shield the unconscious Sasami and Minagi and the two cabbits to the best of their ability.  Mara and Xellos stood next to the three goddesses to give them whatever support they could.

The blackness hit and engulfed the small group.  "Washu!" cried Tenchi as he hacked at the dark mass with little effect.  A purplish glow began to expand upward and outward from the center of the beast.  Overhead many small black areas began to appear in the air.

"Those look kinda familiar," muttered Ryoko.

"Indeed," replied Ayeka.  "They look like Washu's portals…"

The blackness suddenly broke apart into many pieces and before it could recombine the pieces were sucked into the dark spots.  A single small fragment escaped and fled over the horizon.  The three goddesses and two demons were left visible, covered by a brightly glowing purple dome.  The glow faded and all five of them fell to the ground exhausted.  The light from Washu and Tokimi faded and their gems reappeared floating before them; the symbol on Urd's forehead resumed its normal inverted triangular shape.

"Whew," the dusky goddess muttered.  "I don't _ever_ want to have to do that again."  Her head fell back and hit the ground.  She was out cold.

*****

Princess Sasami and Tenchi were helping Gourry make S'mores over the fire while the other Sasami and Misao munched on the ones that had already been prepared and fed pieces of them to the three cabbits and Rumiya.  Urd lay with her head in Mara's lap, much to the joy of the demoness.

"Don't get any odd ideas," the goddess had growled to the demon before laying her head down.  "This is just because there aren't any pillows and I have a terrible headache."

Tokimi sat looking into the flames, contemplating how nice it was to be at peace with the rest of her 'family'.  Every so often she'd toss a twig into the blaze and sigh with contentment.  Tsunami's astral form sat silently next to her.  Naga and Amelia sat a little apart from the others, quietly talking about the future.  Amelia was going to head back to Saillune for a while then rejoin the others later, Zelgadis had elected to go with her.  She'd asked Naga to come with her as well, to see her father again, but the older sorceress politely declined.  Naga'd decided to tag along with Lina and the rest for a while and see what developed.

"There he goes!"  Lina's voice was heard coming out of the forest.

"Over that way," Ayeka yelled.

"Gotcha!" came Ryoko's voice.  "Hold him Minagi.  Washu!  Over here!"

"Oops.  Sit on him Zelgadis, don't let him get away again," said Ryoko's voice again but with a slightly different inflection.

A few moments later they all trooped out of the woods.  Minagi was dragging a tightly wrapped up Xellos by a rope tied around his feet.  Amelia's eyes fell on the bound and gagged Mazoku.

"What is that stuff Washu?  It looks nasty," she asked, eyes growing large as it became obvious that the struggling demon couldn't free himself.

Washu threw back her head and laughed.  "Duct tape.  A thousand and one uses.  It's the only stuff I've ever found that'll hold a god or demon.  Whenever you're ready, one of you'll have to unwrap him."  She knelt down and patted Xellos on the cheek.  He could only glare at her.

Ryoko chuckled.  "And it's not exactly comfortable when it comes off either.  I know."  She looked at her mother who smiled back.

"It leaves a sticky mess all over you too," added Ayeka with a shiver.  "It's very hard to clean it up."

Washu looked Xellos in the eye and smiled wickedly.  "I'm leaving several rolls with Lina and instructions on how to contact me if she needs more.  So you be a good boy from now on, hear?"

Xellos didn't say a word.

*****

The End

*****

Author's Notes

It just occurred to me how similar "The Great Cabbit Search" and "The Game" are to the TV show "Sliders".  I won't claim that it influenced me at all since I never really liked the show and managed to miss all but a very few of the episodes.  I don't even know if it's still on.

Review Responses

Dennisud – I've read Roas Atreides' work (I wonder if he's any relation to Muad'Dib?) and I like it.  I don't know if I've ever read any stories by Mike Haney though.

Alighthawk – No Royal Flush.  I was a card short:  Ace – Tsunami, King – Tenchi, Queen - Ayeka, Jack – Ryoko, Ten – Sasami, but no Nine.  They had to be a member of Juraian royalty either by birth or marriage.  I could have used Yosho but he wasn't there.  Washu wins, all Xellos had was a pair of princesses or three sorceresses, either of which Washu easily beat.

Rowan Seven – Glad you enjoyed it.

Priest – I don't know if this was a big enough ending for you but…

Vsdefender – You may be disappointed in the AMG! video stuff unless you read the manga first.  While still good, a lot of the characters in the manga (like Mara and Banpei) aren't in the videos except for the opening credit sequence.  Banpei _is_ in the movie though as is Peorth, but she's not as much fun there as she is in the comics.  She's much too serious and she's not spewing flowers everywhere.  As far as Slayers, Xellos doesn't appear until the second season (Slayers Next).  As for Noboyuki's comment; yeah, given the way Mihoshi was all over Kiyone in that episode (NNfPartners) I definitely think he had a bit more in mind, although I'm not sure they did.

Agami Starwind – Thanks.  I've read a few of your fics too.

BobR

1/29/2002


	7. Clarifying Points - Don't read unless yo...

Disclaimer

Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC.  Slayers is copyrighted to a lot of different companies and I won't list them all.  I don't own any rights to either of them.  Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.

*****

The Game

Chapter 7

Clarifying Points

*****

Some valid points were raised in DragonBard's review that I felt needed an explanation.  I'm now sorry that I didn't do it in the fic, but I felt that enough clues were given throughout all my stories to cover this.  Looking back, DragonBard is right, it is confusing.  But before I continue I need to say one thing:

The following in no way should be construed to reflect the actual political, social or religious beliefs of the author.  This is a work of fiction set in an alternate world and as such some allowance should be made.  Always remember that as much as we all love these characters and such, they're only from a cartoon.

That said, let's go on.  

The question came up that if L-sama could only exist in the world for a short time, how come Tokimi, Washu and a supercharged Urd who supposedly have just as much power could remain?

The simple answer is that they couldn't, or not for very long anyway.  Way back in Conversations II during the wedding when Washu was revealed and Tokimi descended, Washu made a statement to the effect that in order to remain they had to have their powers sealed, thus Washu recreated the gems and the three Norns sealed Tokimi.  They can only unseal their powers for short periods and only in dire need.  The being that they encountered in this fic was as powerful as any one of them or possibly two, thus would have caused the destruction of this world if allowed to remain.  Xellos sensed this and that's why he asked Washu for help.  After defeating the creature the three reverted back to their sealed selves, voluntarily.

Why isn't Xellos a part of the creature?  Who's to say he isn't.  But seriously, the creature was pure evil and Xellos isn't.  When the creature said he/she/it was those others it meant that it was a controlling part of them, not the whole.  It influenced their actions to a certain extent (some more than others) but wasn't entirely them.  They had individual personalities.  And this Tenchi wouldn't have had a clue who Kain or Yazuha was.  But Washu would.

What's the difference between the Old Ones and Kami-sama (Urd's Father)?  Not much really, the Old Ones existed first, but didn't create any of the younger races.  Remember that Urd told Ryoko that Washu created their Reality during a fight with Tokimi, but her (Urd's) father was the one that created everything in that Reality.  The Old Ones have more power but don't like to use it openly.  I'm not even going to try to speculate how these beings (the Old Ones and the other Higher Beings) came into existence.  Let's just say they exist and leave it at that.

This brings up the question of why the creature could have the same or more power than an Old One.  Well… it's because the creature is made up of evil gathered from across the realities.  Under normal circumstances it would never be able to gather together, but Xellos wasn't careful when he traveled through the realities and left gaps.  These gaps sealed themselves, but slowly, allowing the different aspects of the creature from the different realities to gather at the source of the power.  Because it was made up of many different parts, as a whole it could be more powerful than any single being.

What happened to the creature?  Washu created portals (being careful not to leave gaps) and the others dispersed it back to where it belonged.  The piece that escaped belongs in the Slayers reality.

Whew!  There.  And if this sounds like a bunch of rationalizations, well you're right.  But still, it kinda makes sense, doesn't it?  I hope.  And I'll try my best not to do anymore crossovers with this many series again.  I promise.  (Author has his fingers crossed behind his back…)

And DragonBard, thanks for pointing it out to me.  It all made perfect sense to me when I wrote it.  I would've just explained this to you in an e-mail, thus saving me some embarrassment, but you didn't give me your address in your review.

BobR

1/30/2002

(Oh, and before I forget: Dennisud, nope, no Dragonball in my next fic.  Yuck, ptuie…)


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